More on the Eleventh Doctor
http://io9.com/5122806/why-this-doctor-disappoints
The above article at io9 is not alone in their reasons for disappointment in Matt Smith being cast as the Doctor for Doctor Who 2010. Amongst the usual 'he's great' or 'he sucks' there are a lot of responses actively upset over the fact that the Eleventh Doctor (still not used to that, what is it with me?) is white and male. To the point of some criticising the BBC (or its employees) for supposedly having the gender and race tick-boxes as requirements.
Paterson Joseph as the Marquis the Carabas in Neverwhere. Seriously, you would not believe how many times I saw this edited into fan creations over the years.Some of the 'conspiracy theories' seem to originate with the non-choosing of Paterson Joseph. Paterson is black, and was also the favourite of press and fans to get the role (actually, he's been the favourite of many a fan since he was in Neverwhere in 1996). When Matt Smith (who is not black, and not Paterson Joseph) was chosen, many were surprised. What it's worth realising here is that often-time a recast-happy role is chosen in the public eye, there is someone who 'everyone knows' will be picked, but turns out not to be chosen. So many people thought the Tenth Doctor was going to be Bill Nighy. I was told to not bother waiting for the announcement of the James Bond after Brosnan, because Clive Owen was a done deal. [1] So it may not be an unfair theory (though, granted, a theory) that some people are looking for a reason Paterson won't be flying the TARDIS next year. (That is, a 'reason' other than 'he didn't want to', 'Matt Smith gave a better audition', 'he wasn't available' or something similarly non-inflammatory.)
I think it would have been interesting to have a non-white Doctor, or a non-male Doctor (many, including the io9 post, specifically referring to 'black' rather than just 'not white', which lends a little to the Joseph-centric theory), but I'm not 'disappointed' that he's white and male. I'd be 'disappointed' if they chose someone because they weren't white. The Telegraph, at least, says that the team chose the best audition, not the best white face, and I've no reason to think they wouldn't. Besides, it's hardly fair to take issue with the BBC/Moffatt/CastingBot 3000 for disliking Joseph based on the colour of his skin, then turn around and dislike Smith for the colour of his.
I can't say that I'd like Paterson Joseph any better than Matt Smith as the Doctor, not least because I haven't seen Smith in anything at all, so it's impossible to compare.
Gender is a different cultural kettle of fish to race, so let's deal with that seperately. I'm not in a big hurry for their to be a female Doctor. I'm not saying I'd hate it if there were (depending on the actor and performance, obviously). It's that something about the Doctor strikes me as male - as 'male-identifying', to use some terminology from the gender world. And when I say 'the Doctor', I mean this Doctor. Not the Eleventh, not the Tenth, but the man with his whole history. The individual we've been following on television since he was played by William Hartnell in 1963 right up until being played by David Tennant in 2008. (I'm ignoring the question of Gallifreyan physionomy. Maybe it can change body-gender as it goes, maybe it can't. This man fell off a transmission tower and turned into Tristan off the vet show. Regular biological feasibility doesn't enter into it.) And that's my only real reservation, based on this he's-one-man-not-eleven idea. An alternate Doctor, a 'movie Doctor', a 'reboot Doctor', then it's a different character and that reservation goes away. And, all that said, if the people running Doctor Who suddenly announced that Matt Smith has an ingrown knuckle and can't do it after all and now it's Liza Tarbuck, I'd still wait out final judgement till I saw her in action. Since 2005, the people running Doctor Who have shown that they know what they're doing, and I'm more than ready to believe they'll continue to do so.
Addendum: Why is it always the Doctor everyone wants to mess with the gender of? No-one ever starts a rumour that the Rani's going to come back played by Philip Glenister.
[1] Though, incidentally, the casting of Brosnan himself was one of the 'everyone knows' that turned out to be true, so it's not automatically a false prediction.
The above article at io9 is not alone in their reasons for disappointment in Matt Smith being cast as the Doctor for Doctor Who 2010. Amongst the usual 'he's great' or 'he sucks' there are a lot of responses actively upset over the fact that the Eleventh Doctor (still not used to that, what is it with me?) is white and male. To the point of some criticising the BBC (or its employees) for supposedly having the gender and race tick-boxes as requirements.
Paterson Joseph as the Marquis the Carabas in Neverwhere. Seriously, you would not believe how many times I saw this edited into fan creations over the years.Some of the 'conspiracy theories' seem to originate with the non-choosing of Paterson Joseph. Paterson is black, and was also the favourite of press and fans to get the role (actually, he's been the favourite of many a fan since he was in Neverwhere in 1996). When Matt Smith (who is not black, and not Paterson Joseph) was chosen, many were surprised. What it's worth realising here is that often-time a recast-happy role is chosen in the public eye, there is someone who 'everyone knows' will be picked, but turns out not to be chosen. So many people thought the Tenth Doctor was going to be Bill Nighy. I was told to not bother waiting for the announcement of the James Bond after Brosnan, because Clive Owen was a done deal. [1] So it may not be an unfair theory (though, granted, a theory) that some people are looking for a reason Paterson won't be flying the TARDIS next year. (That is, a 'reason' other than 'he didn't want to', 'Matt Smith gave a better audition', 'he wasn't available' or something similarly non-inflammatory.)
I think it would have been interesting to have a non-white Doctor, or a non-male Doctor (many, including the io9 post, specifically referring to 'black' rather than just 'not white', which lends a little to the Joseph-centric theory), but I'm not 'disappointed' that he's white and male. I'd be 'disappointed' if they chose someone because they weren't white. The Telegraph, at least, says that the team chose the best audition, not the best white face, and I've no reason to think they wouldn't. Besides, it's hardly fair to take issue with the BBC/Moffatt/CastingBot 3000 for disliking Joseph based on the colour of his skin, then turn around and dislike Smith for the colour of his.
I can't say that I'd like Paterson Joseph any better than Matt Smith as the Doctor, not least because I haven't seen Smith in anything at all, so it's impossible to compare.
Gender is a different cultural kettle of fish to race, so let's deal with that seperately. I'm not in a big hurry for their to be a female Doctor. I'm not saying I'd hate it if there were (depending on the actor and performance, obviously). It's that something about the Doctor strikes me as male - as 'male-identifying', to use some terminology from the gender world. And when I say 'the Doctor', I mean this Doctor. Not the Eleventh, not the Tenth, but the man with his whole history. The individual we've been following on television since he was played by William Hartnell in 1963 right up until being played by David Tennant in 2008. (I'm ignoring the question of Gallifreyan physionomy. Maybe it can change body-gender as it goes, maybe it can't. This man fell off a transmission tower and turned into Tristan off the vet show. Regular biological feasibility doesn't enter into it.) And that's my only real reservation, based on this he's-one-man-not-eleven idea. An alternate Doctor, a 'movie Doctor', a 'reboot Doctor', then it's a different character and that reservation goes away. And, all that said, if the people running Doctor Who suddenly announced that Matt Smith has an ingrown knuckle and can't do it after all and now it's Liza Tarbuck, I'd still wait out final judgement till I saw her in action. Since 2005, the people running Doctor Who have shown that they know what they're doing, and I'm more than ready to believe they'll continue to do so.
Addendum: Why is it always the Doctor everyone wants to mess with the gender of? No-one ever starts a rumour that the Rani's going to come back played by Philip Glenister.
[1] Though, incidentally, the casting of Brosnan himself was one of the 'everyone knows' that turned out to be true, so it's not automatically a false prediction.